Should I be using XSD 1.1 to build an open standard?

Question

We have been asked to put together a set of schemas for an open XML standard.

XSD 1.0 would cope with most of the rules, but it would be a bit messy in places (especially to allow for extensibility) it would also rely on implementers reading free text descriptions of some rules in the form of annotations.

Pretty much all of the rules could be implemented using XSD 1.1, however we are not sure if this would limit implementers unduly.

So my question, is XSD 1.1 mature enough to be used in the wild?

Confuse

Answer 1

Reasons to use XSD 1.0

• Least restrictive requirement argument: Maximize interoperability between systems and teams by requiring the lowest common denominator standard, XSD 1.0.
• Broader tool and library support: JAXB and xsd.exe (.NET), for example, still do not support XSD 1.1.

Reasons to use XSD 1.1

• Assertions (xs:assert) are wonderfully powerful. Leverages XPath to provide flexible mechanism to express constraints beyond core content and type modeling.
• Conditional Type Assignment can be useful when type should vary per attribute value.
• Many other improvements. See W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 1: Structures, Appendix G Changes since version 1.0 (non-normative)

Recommendation

If all parties involved with building and interacting your system are prepared to move to XSD 1.1 and have no dependencies on tools or libraries that only support XSD 1.0, then move to XSD 1.1. Otherwise, stick with XSD 1.0.

Spiritism

It was more the maturity of the supporting libraries/tools that I was concerned about, it seems most good schema editors support it now, but the runtime tools are still a bit behind. We've very little information on the tools/technologies in use by the consumers of the standard. We will try to gather more information before the decision is made. – Confuse

Hello there, I'd be very interested in further pros and cons from both you and @Spiritism - I'm wondering what's the status of the XSD 1.1 draft? – Vieira

@Michael: Further pros/cons: This answer covers the key points. If you require further information, please be much more specific in a separate question. Draft? XSD 1.1 reached Recommendation status in 2012. – Spiritism

@Spiritism Thanks. Is there somewhere on the W3C pages that explains what Recommendation status implies? – Vieira

Is there a list somewhere of libraries / applications that implement XSD 1.1? – Vieira

@Michael: Saxon, Altova, and Xerces implement XSD 1.1 – Spiritism

@Michael: If you have further questions, please post as new questions. SO is not designed for extended discussions via comments; questions should be surfaced as actual questions. Thanks. – Spiritism